Congressional Medal of Honor Society
Stories of Sacrifice
U.S. Civil War - U.S. Navy
Lorenzo Denning
Details
- Also Known As: Deming, Lorenzo
- Rank: Landsman
- Conflict/Era: U.S. Civil War
- Unit/Command:
U.S. Picket Boat No. 1 - Military Service Branch: U.S. Navy
- Medal of Honor Action Date: October 27, 1864
- Medal of Honor Action Place: Plymouth, North Carolina, USA
Citation
Denning served on board the U.S. Picket Boat No. 1 in action, 27 October 1864, against the Confederate ram Albemarle which had resisted repeated attacks by our steamers and had kept a large force of vessels employed in watching her. The picket boat, equipped with a spar torpedo, succeeded in passing the enemy pickets within 20 yards without being discovered and then made for the Albemarle under a full head of steam. Immediately taken under fire by the ram, the small boat plunged on, jumped the log boom which encircled the target and exploded its torpedo under the port bow of the ram. The picket boat was destroyed by enemy fire and almost the entire crew was taken prisoner or lost.
Additional Details
- Accredited to: New Britain, Hartford County, Connecticut
- Awarded Posthumously: No
- Presentation Date & Details: December 31, 1864
- Born: September 6, 1843, Granby, Hartford County, CT, United States
- Died: February 8, 1865, Salisbury, NC, United States
- Buried: Salisbury National Cemetery (one of 11,700 unknowns buried in a long trench); Fairview Cemetery, New Britian, Connecticut (IMO), Salisbury, NC, United States